Last eight days in Islamabad sum up the dilemma we face as a nation and as Muslims in today's world. At crossroads between progress or an ultra-conservative approach towards life, we stand divided. A fear has engulfed us that modernization is sweeping away our national and religious identity. It's quite obvious that our heritage is a culture of tolerance, mutual respect and traditionally conservative values. The need of the hour is to establish that we can progress without breaking away from our heritage. It is this fear of losing identity, that is driving many among us towards religious extremism. For those people, causes for change are the enemy. But what they don't realize is that the world will change as it has for centuries, whether they resist it or adapt.
As bodies will be recovered from Lal Masjid after the operation is over, and there is no doubt that there will be many many bodies; we will never be sure whether all of those people inside were being held hostage by a few dozen militants or they were willingly resisting leaving the conflict.
Countless contradictions have blatantly been hurled towards the negotiators and the public. Least of those was the attempt to belittle the sacrifice made by Col. Haroon, by claiming the explosives damaging the outer walls caused the structure inside to collapse killing more that 300 students. The account of what kinds of weapons were inside, what kind of people were inside and their intentions were all propaganda and lies told by the so-called Molaanas. I was surprised and saddened a member of the parliament came on television and claimed that the piety and honesty of the main two culprits was beyond doubt! I would like to have a few words with this MNA after Ghazi attempted to bargain a safe passage for the militants holed up inside the mosque. Whereas for last six months, he had absolutes ridiculed suggestions that such people existed inside his compound.
Regardless of the outcome of today's events, the worrying aspect to note is the section of our population that has supported the militants and their protectors. It seems these problems will continue to surface as long as our people continue to support hard-line tactics and militancy in the name of religion.